Improvement in digging-machines for agricultural purposes



ALFRED LAFAYETTE KENNEDY. 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 109,019, dated November 8, 1870 antedated October2,2, 1870.

INIPRGVEMENT IN DIGGiNG-MACHINES FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.

The 'schedule refer-rea to in these Letters Patent and 'making part ofthe same.

I, ALFRED Lamvn'rmn KENNEDY, of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia,State of Pennsylvania,haveI invented certain Improvements inDigging-Machinery, of which the following is a specification.

The cam 1I serves as a means of attaching the digging-tool to the lowerforked end 0f the pistou-.rod C, and forms au important feature of my-invention.

It consists of a single crved'bar, e, labove, and of two curved bars, ff, beneath, the latter being situated a short distance apart from butparallel to each other, (see fig. 4.)

Nature and Object of the Invention..

My invention consists in the attachment, to a tra'ction-engine or othervehicle, of a digging device, composed of a spade or spading fork,operated by the direct action of a steam-engine,without the interventionof cranks, cog-wheels, o r other 4contrivanees for producing rotarymotion, as hereafter described; and

My invent-ion consists further of a certain cam, and of devicesconnected thercwith,f0r enabling the spade to be thrustinto the groundwhile the machine is moving forward, and also of a peculiar method .ofhingng the frame which carries the digging devices to thetraction-engine or vehicle, all of -which will be fully describedhereafter.

for rollers, h, and h', in the lower forked end of the piston-rod G, thecam II, with its digging-tool, and arm I hanging suspended from theroller h when the pistonrod is raised, as shown in iigs; 1 and 2,butthis roller being frec, and the lower rollersh' iu contact with the barsff of the cam when the piston-rod is vdescending, as seen in tig. 3.

'llo the outer end of the arm I is att-ached a cord or chain, l, which,after passing between guide-rollers nt on of the frame A, is connectedto the lower end of a vertical rod, 1, which slides in guides q q of thesaid frame, this rod having, between the guides, a projection or lug, r,which, at every revolution of the flywheel 11, is arranged to be struckand raised by a pin, fr', of the latter, for a purpose which will berendered apparent hereafter.

'lhe arm I also passes through the slotted lower end of, and iscontrolled by, a second vertical; sliding rod, s, which has likewise alug arranged to be struck and lifted by a pin, si', of the iiy-wheel, onthe' revolution of the lattern Description of the Accompanying Drawing.

Figure 1 is a side elevationot my improved diggi n g-machiue- Figure 2,a view ot' the lower-portion of the same with the working parts in adifferent position Figure 3, an end view of iig. 1; and

Figure'4, a detached. perspective view of part of the machine.

General Description.

Operetten.

lt should be understood inthe outset that,in addition to the regularreciprocating mot-ion of the pistonrod, by which the digging-tool isoperated, there is a uniform-forward movement of the whole machine inthe direction of the arrow 2, figs. l and 2. It is this The frame A ofthe machine is so secured to the rear end of the frame of .atraction-engine, or to any suitable vehicle, by a hinged joint, a, thatit can bc readily detached from the same, and the joint is of such acharacter as to prevent the said frame from being depressed beyond ahorizontal position, but permits it, under the circumstances describedhcreatter, to yield vertically, as indicated by the arrow 1 in iig. 1.

An inverted steam-cylinder, B, is permanently secured to the frame A,and to its piston-rod, G, is attached a cross-head, b, which isconnected by means of rods c c to a. cross-head, b', above the cylinder,and from this latter cross-head m'otion is communicated through aconnecting-rod, d, and crank 'zT-to a flywheel, F,-the shaft of whichturns in suitable hearings.

As the valves and other portions of the engine do not differ materiallyfrom those in common use, it has not been deemed necessary to illustrateor describel them.

The digging-tool, G, resembles, in general fornuan ordiudary spade orspading-fork, and is rigidly secured to a cam, H, which is attached toor formed at one end'of an arm or lever, I, the latter and the said toolbeing arranged at bout right angles to each other, as'v best observedinfig. 1.

cam II necessary, for the instant the edge of the dig- .ging-tool iscaused tocuter the ground its forward `movement is arrested, while thatof the piston-rod continues, so that,`while,the downward thrust of thelatter is forcing the tool into the ground it must be free to movelforward (that is, to traverse -the curved ways of the cam) withoutcommunicating the same motion to the tool.

For instance, while the' parts are iu the position shown in iig. 1,thatis, with the spade elevated slightly pendedfrom the roller h ot' thepiston-rod, and the arm I maintained in a horizontal position, orthereabout, by means oft-he cord l, let it be supposed that the machineis moving forward andthe piston-rod descending. As soon as the loweredge of theV spade be suspended from the piston-rod, and the upperroller h isA frced,but the pressure of the lower roller or roltersTheinner edges of t`hese curved bars serve as wavs latter movement whichrenders the' employment of the above the surface of the ground, the camH, sus-l touches the surface ot' the ground the cam ceases to lettore his immediately brought to bear upon the curved It will he evident thatan eccentric or eceentrics on ways ff of the cam, causing the spade tobe. thrust the crank-shaft may hc used in place of the pins on downwardinto the ground with thc dcsccntjot the the ily-wheel.

piston-rod. These rollers will,at the same time, travel The object inhinging the frame A to the road-ennpcn the curved ways toward the spade,without movgine, or other vehicle to which it is attached, is to inglthe same tbrward, (which would cause a rupture enable the said frame toyield instantly, and thus preor serious straining ofthe machine,) untilthe several vent the breaking or straining ot' any portion of' the partshave assumed the position shown in lig. Q-in machinery should the spade,in its descent, meet with other words, until the rollers bear upon thatportion rocks or other obstructions.

otthe earn in'nnediately ahove the spade, and the The hinged joint alsoenables the digging-machlue latter has reached the limit of its downwardmoveto be readily detached from the 'road-engine or truck, ment. whenthe latter is to rbe, used for other purposes At this instant the pins', which is placed close to Although I prefer to operate the spadedirectly by the periphery of the fly-wheel'lf, strikes and raises meansof a separate engine attached to the frame A, the slotted rod s, and,consequently, lit'ts the arm I, as above deseribed,yet itwill be evidentthat sui'Iicic-nt turning the same, the cani H, and the spade to thepower may be transmitted from thepropelling engine position shown hydotted lines in fig. 2. During this to operate a rod, the equivalent ot'the piston-rod O, movement the earth, at thc point zu, serves as afuland the parts connected therewith, without departing cram, just aswith an ordinary hand-spade, thus difrom the main features ot' myinvention.

n iminishing the strain upon the parts, and the leverage The abovemachine, although intended principally gained by the use ofthe arm I issuch that the entire as a substitute for the plow, to be used in tilliugthe j mass of earth iu front of the spade will, von the moves oil, can,it will be evident, be so modified and enment of the latter, be.lit`tedand overturned with the, larged as to form an cliicient excavatingmachine. .f greatest facility. v rlhis movement is ciected in the shortinterval of' time that elapses while the direction of the motion of thepiston-rod is being changed, and while the latter is moving forward tothe extremities of the waysff, and just before the completion ot" thesaid movement the piston-rod begins to rise, causing the cam to besuspended from its roller h., and the spade to be, consequently, raisedclear of the ground.

Before the piston-rod reaches the limit of its upward movement, however,the sliding-rods is released by the pinne', and permitted to descend, sothat the arm I, no longer sustained by the said rod, will t'all to itsoriginal position.

Ou the second descent of the piston-rod the same operation will berepeated, the spade cutting into and overturning the earth at a shortdistance in advance of the former cut, and this may be repeated andcomtinued with rapidity and regularity ihr any required distance.

It should he understood that the only object of the cord lis to hold upthe outer end of the arm I, and to maintain the spade in a properposition for rcceiving the power of the. piston-rod. It should also .beunderstood that the rod p, to which the said cord is attached, is raisedsli rhtly on every motion of the flywheel, forthe purpose of tighteningthevcord, so as to maintain the arm I and spade in the most advantageouspositions during the descent of' the piston-rod.

Claims.

l l The attachment oi' a tractionlengine, or other vehicle, of adigging-device, consisting ot` a spa'de G, actuated by a reciprocatingrod C, through the mediumv of the cam H, lever I, rods s and 1), cord2'., y-,wheel F, and its pin s', or of other equivalentdevices whichwill produce a like effect.

2. The cam H, carryiu'r thc spalle or digger G, and consisting oi'curved ways c and f, adapted to the rollers 71l and 71, ot the rod G,all substantially as herein set forth.

8. 'lhe combination of the cam H, its digger- G, reciprocating rod C,and lever I, the latter being operated substantially as described,through the medimn oi the devices herein described or their equivalents.

4. The hinging of the frame A, which carries the (ligging mechanism tothe traction-engine or vehicle, substantially as described.

In testimdny whereof, I have signed myname to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED LAFAYIYIVPE KENNEDY.

Witnesses:

LOUIS BoswcLLA HARRY SMITH.

